With this post, I begin an expedition through three bins of Baltimore newspapers from the 1940s — the Sun and Evening Sun and Hearst’s News-Post — that were left with me a few years ago. From time to time, I will pull out an edition, make some observations and share photographs of the more interesting stories, advertisements and features. 

It is old news, but daily newspapers once upon a time served as a one-stop-shop for all kinds of information — local, national and international news, movie listings and celebrity news, sports, business news, obituaries, shipping news, and advertising for all manner of goods and services. It’s now hard to remember when newspapers were fat with ads and what we called the “news hole” sprawled across several broadsheet pages.

The first offering is from the News-Post of Oct. 29, 1940, reporting on its front page the lottery results of the first peacetime military draft in U.S. history. By that time, Nazi Germany had invaded Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and France. The latter, in June 1940, prompted Congress to call for expansion of the Army and Navy. That led to all men between 21 to 35 being required to register for the draft. The News-Post printed the names and addresses of all Marylanders called to service through the first lottery.

Check out the advertisement for a woman’s coat of Dyed Skunk. Cartoons will always be last.

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Published by Dan Rodricks

Dan Rodricks is a former long-time columnist for The Baltimore Sun, winner of numerous national and regional journalism awards, a radio and TV personality, podcaster and fly angler. His narrative memoir, "Father's Day Creek," was published in May 2019 by Apprentice House at Loyola University Maryland.

12 thoughts on “Out of Print: Newspapers from the 1940s”

  1. My father is probably on that list of draftees. He was living in Baltimore when registration became mandatory; his roommate was Phil Heisler.

    PS: Phil also registered, and was duly summoned for a physical. The doctor who examined him chuckled, and said he was going to go home that night and tell his wife he rejected someone who didn’t have enough guts to be a soldier.

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      1. Frederick Doelp. Probably the only Doelp on the list, if he’s there at all.

        Where did you find this treasure anyway?

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      2. The daughter of a neighbor moved into a house in northeast Baltimore and discovered them in the attic. Some are very dry and brittle, most in relatively good shape.

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  3. GREAT STUFF.
    The Gayety may be the only business address that is still in operation with original purpose.

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